I wanted to make some pens out of Hawaiian koa wood, so I bought a few blanks off ebay. I’ve never worked with Koa before, but the blanks seemed unusually lightweight. I read online that it’s a medium density wood similar to walnut, but I can tell very easily that they are not the same weight. Here’s a picture of the blanks:

I just walked down to the shop and picked up a piece of Koa and a piece of Walnut of about the same size. I would say, based just on feel – I did not weight them, that the Koa is just a little bit lighter than the Walnut.

I’ve used some Koa to make small boxes, but I have never turned it. I found it very easy to work with.